Musical Memories
by deschanel7013
Summary: Tiva. Short clips or drabbles based on songs, originally intended for the iPod challenge. But I tend to get carried away. Enjoy. Chapter two: The Way I Am, Ingrid Michaelson
1. Ten Shorts

A/N: This was based on the iPod challenge, but I got a little carried away. :) I couldn't stop typing for some of them, so they're not super short, but they're definitely not long. This is my first dive in NCIS fandom, but I've written fics for House, Bones, Crossing Jordan.... Anyway. This is for a few of my friends, Dennis and Fry, for convincing me to write, and Megan, Zach, Andy, and Dijana for our little world of NCIS at school. It may be a little OOC (that's what I get for reading a lot of OOC fanfics), and it might be a little off in some places (I haven't seen every episode), so feel free to correct me. Not beta'd. They're all related to songs, but sometimes my mind wanders, so they won't necessarily fit with the song. (Any song suggestions, and I'll _try_ and write one for you.)

Fifty points to the person who can spot the Bones refrence, and twenty to whoever has seen the knife commercial in the first one. Five to whoever spots the (obvious) refrence to NCIS crew, and five to all that read. Twelve million to anyone that reviews. I mean, hey, I have more of these somewhere, if I get enough reviews...they're up here. Have any questions? Ask. Corrections, writing or otherwise, would be amazing. Thanks, Deschanel.

* * *

**1 IT HAD TO BE YOU- MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK**

His eyes darted from the wall to the television, poking the macaroni on his plate. A movie played, muted, on the screen, but it didn't hold his interest. Pulling the fork to his lips, he immediately regretted it. He wasn't the best cook, and there was no one around to cook for him. He threw the fork onto his plate, the metal colliding with the glass of the plate, breaking the edge of the plate with a loud thunk.

Maybe that was why he always had a girl over- everything just seemed… He didn't know what it was. But now...now he couldn't eat his food, his movies were boring, and he found himself staying up until the very early moments of the morning, watching commercials advertising 27 knives for only $19.99. It was a scam, he knew, but he couldn't sleep. Not after Jeanne. It was all just…mundane. Boring.

He needed someone, he decided somewhere between watching the knife commercial and giving five dollars to the needy children in Africa. He needed someone, but it wasn't Jeanne. Not anymore, not again.

It was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was someone he'd always been around. He felt like the pieces of the puzzle had come together almost completely some years ago, but he couldn't pinpoint, not consciously, when it was or how exactly it had happened.

It was Ziva. He needed her, the last piece to his crazy life puzzle. He couldn't have her. She was a coworker, a Mossad agent, and they worked for Gibbs. It was wrong on so many levels- Eli David's levels, Gibbs' levels, Vance's levels…It just had to be her, didn't it? The one that couldn't happen, the one that was forbidden and impossible.

They do say, though, he thought, that what doesn't kill us makes us who we are.

* * *

**2 A SONG FOR YOU- ELLIOTT YAMIN**

Tony sipped his drink slowly, letting it slosh around in the cup. The air smelled of alcohol and fruit, the faint scent of ocean water overpowered. "You're acting funny, Tony," the bartender said to him, throwing him a danish. "What's up?"

"Nothing, Ray, nothing," Tony replied, ripping a piece of danish off and putting it in his mouth.

"It's Bermuda, boy, all those Marines you're with…they're all over these women," Ray nodded toward the women in the corner, "You're on break. Have some fun."

"I can't," was Tony's short reply.

"Got a wife at home? Girlfriend?" Ray smiled, "Someone better looking than the Caribbean women behind you?"

"In my opinion."

"What's that mean, Tony? You think you've got a girlfriend? A wife?" Ray tossed another drink to Tony, wiping off the counter.

"No, Ray, she's my partner. I work with her." Tony ripped another piece of danish off, savoring the taste.

"And that's why you're not going after some of the hottest women on the planet, because you have a lady partner back at NCIS?" Ray took Tony's old glass, tossing in the back. "You got it bad for her, don't you?"

Tony didn't reply. "What's her name?"

He took a swig of his drink, then, "Ziva."

"She sounds hot, Tony," Ray said, smiling. "She hotter than those women?" He nodded toward the women again.

"She's better than hot, Ray," Tony replied, ripping off another piece of danish. "She's beautiful, drop dead gorgeous." A smile played at the corners of Tony's lips."Aw, man, you're goin' soft on me," Ray said, grinning. Tony chuckled in response, watching Ray wipe down the counter.

"Nah," Tony said. A pause, then, "Maybe I am. But it's not so bad. She's…she makes it feel right."

"Softie."

"I still got a little of the old Tony in here."

"Yeah? Where? Underneath the fuzzy bunnies and red roses?"

"Her attitude, Ray," Tony said, "She's beautiful, but her attitude is hot." Ray chuckled, "You know, she can kill someone dozens of ways with just the stuff on her desk at work. She's a trained assassin for Mossad. She's freakin' feisty."

Ray smiled, then, "So now you gotta tell the assassin that she made Player Tony turn into Lover Tony."

Tony smiled, liking the sound of that.

* * *

**3 SEE YOU AGAIN- MILEY CYRUS**

His smile was deceiving, but his eyes were convincing. The look on his face gave him away, and the words escaping his lips were etched in sexual sarcasm, but the cracks, ever so small, in his voice made her chuckle. She had heard rumors about him, he was a player. Was this his game? Was that really it?

He'd act charming, with undertones of sarcasm, to get them interested without being a downright perv, and then reel them in with a smile and glowing eyes? Is that really _it_?

She fought her own thoughts, trying, with no avail, to convince herself that it wasn't enough. To convince herself that he wasn't her type at all.

It was enough, a perfect 10 on her scale, and that was why she applied for a transfer to NCIS from Mossad.

* * *

**4 TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR- TAYLOR SWIFT**

Her eyes dart from the case report between her fingers to the smile on Tony's face. _"Andrew Ryan was known by his victims to be extremely charming and good looking, but, as his third victim, Kathy Reichs, stated, he breaks more than hearts. Reichs is his only living victim."_

"Yeah, Sarah, I'll be there at eight tonight…Mmhmm, Morgan's on J street…. Can't wait for tonight, either, babe." His cell phone, his second one, was held between his ear and his shoulder as he flipped through papers on his desk. "Bye, baby."

Ziva scowled. In the late hours of the night, when she'd normally be sleeping, she might admit that she's jealous of Sarah, but not now.

Tony hangs up the phone, and notes the look that's been plastered on her face since he'd dialed Sarah's number. "Something you'd like to tell me?"

Ziva smiled, leaning over her desk to mimic his position, "No, Tony. Just that Andrew Ryan reminds me of you. No one gets out alive."

* * *

**5 I'M ONLY ME WHEN I'M WITH YOU- TAYLOR SWIFT**

She couldn't see herself going back to Mossad. Not anymore. Sure, her family was over there, and missions brought her to wearing pretty dresses and sneaking around in some of the most beautiful places in the world. But it also reminded her of Tali and Ari and death. It reminded her of missions where her partners didn't come out alive or she was afraid she wouldn't either. It reminded her of the training and torture and emotionless necessities, and she hated that.

It wasn't because of the frightening memories that plagued her, though. It was her family. It was Gibbs and McGee and Abby and Tony.

Tony. He wasn't death or torture or stealthy movements. He wasn't Ari or emotionless or pain. Every day she put her life on the line in DC, not unlike in Israel, but unlike Mossad, NCIS gave her hope. Tony was there, he would protect her. If he couldn't, she'd go down knowing that if she was still an officer for Mossad, a deadly assassin against other deadly assassins, at least she'd had Tony to lighten her day.

* * *

**6 BREATHE- TAYLOR SWIFT**

He stood at the end of her driveway, drenched in rain, a look of despair in his eyes. He shook uncontrollably from the cold, but he didn't move--he couldn't move.

She turned the key in the ignition and put it in drive. She whispered something in Hebrew, almost not noticeable even to herself. In her rearview mirror, she watched him watch her, hitting the gas.

She was really gone. She wasn't coming back. Mossad and Israel got her back, and Tony lost one of NCIS' and DC's best. His hair matted to his forehead and his clothes fell flatly against his body, limp and heavy with water. He couldn't let her go, but he couldn't do anything to stop her.

She never got further than around the corner, where she stopped along the side of the road, turning off the engine. Her head rested against the steering wheel, her hands still on the sides. Within minutes, the few tears that had escaped from the corners of her eyes turned to raucous sobs, uncontrollable. She fell asleep crying that night, the window her pillow. Tony fell asleep against his window, still at the base of her driveway, in his car. She couldn't leave, but they had to let go.

* * *

**7 INVISIBLE- TAYLOR SWIFT**

She had been right. He couldn't live the rest of his life with Jeanne Benoit as Tony DiNardo, the teacher. He couldn't live the lie that he'd adopted for so long. He just couldn't.

Ziva knew him too well…she knew just what to say and how to say it.. She could tell him, with the perfect look in her eyes, that he was fooling himself and that he wouldn't be able to love Jeanne the way he loved her undercover because now she knew… Jeanne resented what he did, and nothing would be the same.

Tony agreed, slowly and carefully, with what she had told her. It was what she hadn't told him that meant the most, though. She cared. Ziva worried for him, just as he would worry for her.

It was in the slowed seconds that she had confronted him that realization hit him. Jeanne didn't really, truly know him. She could say the words Ziva said to him, but the meaning, the conviction, that Ziva said them with…he knew she meant them. Ziva knew him, Jeanne didn't.

He hung his head solemnly as he walked away. Jeanne may have made him smile, but it was Ziva that saw his eyes sparkle then, and that was what was important.

He never told her, and she must've felt so… invisible.

* * *

**8 ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE- COUNTING CROWS**

She laughed into his chest, "Really?"

His lips curled into a smile, "Yeah, Zee, it's got the best stuff ever."

"Well, come on then!" Ziva pulled lightly on his arm and ran towards the stand.

Tony caught up quickly, smiling. "What're you gonna have?"

"Pick something for me, Tony."

He came back minutes later, holding a triple chocolate fudge ice cream in one hand, and a strawberry ice cream cone in the other. Holding the strawberry cone out to her, he said, "This is their best."

"My favorite," she said, "How'd you know?"

He shrugged, "It must be love." Tony and Ziva laughed into the twilight.

* * *

**9 ONE WORD- ELLIOTT YAMIN**

"McGee," Ziva started, "how would you describe me?"

"Uhh…" McGee fumbled with the papers in his hands.

"Just a few words or something. How do you see me?"

"Well, uh, you're… you're strong and dedicated, very… determined and a good investigator. Why?"

"Just wondering."

Gibbs walked into the bullpen just as McGee left, minutes later, and Ziva got up from her desk and followed him to his desk. "Yeah?"

Ziva leaned on his desk with both hands, but removed them when he glared at her. "How would you describe me?"

He cocked his head to one side, but without missing a beat, "Fired, if you don't get back to work."

She nodded, then went to go see Abby.

"Really cool. And smart. Deadly," was Abby's response to Ziva's question, followed by a rant that could only be stopped by a dinging of one of her machines.

Ziva waited for Tony to arrive, and Abby gave them an update on their case.

Tony and Ziva got into the elevator then, and Ziva turned to look at him, "How would you describe me, Tony?"

In a second, the elevator was stopped and dark, Tony's hand still on the button. With a swift move, though, it was wrapped behind her, his arms at her waist. She blushed, and he pulled her closer. "How do I describe you?"

"Mmhmm," Ziva replied, words not reaching her.

He pulled her in, kissing her. Slowly, upon their release, he replied, "One word." He kissed her again, "Amazing."

* * *

**10 LOVE YOU OUT LOUD- RASCAL FLATTS**

Gibbs had caught them once. It was dark and rainy outside, nearing 9:00. Ziva had grabbed her bags, throwing her case files and Abby's result papers in her desk drawer, and hooked her gun into the holster at her waist.

Tony locked up his files and gun in his desk and clicked off his computer and monitor, pulling his bag over his shoulder. "Ready, Zee-vah?" He held up a navy blue bag from behind his desk, holding it out to her. "We have reservations at Bellisario's at 9:30."

Ziva viewed the dress in the bag, nodding. "It's pretty."

He threw a lazy arm around her, stopping. "Thank you, milady." Tony pulled her closer still, planting a kiss on her lips.

Just as his lips touched hers, a hard smack greeted the back of his head. "I don't care if it is your six month anniversary, or that no one else is here. You're still at work. I don't wanna see it."

Speechless, Ziva stood, still wrapped in Tony's arms. "How'd you know, boss?" Tony finally asked.

"You wanna get head slapped for getting together too, DiNozzo?" He shook his head, "Day's over, you can leave."

"Thank you, Boss."

* * *

**11 GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD- RASCAL FLATTS**

What were the odds, really? What were the odds that Anthony DiNozzo, former cop turned NCIS senior field agent, and Ziva David, Israeli Mossad agent and trained assassin who was sent to protect her half-brother after a death, would meet? He figured the stars must've aligned perfectly for that to happen. He loses one of his own, and in walks Ziva, as casual as ever, to protect the killer. Of course, he'd hated her at first, but…she was Ziva. She grew on him.

His life had been crappy, and so had hers. Sitting back, watching their daughters, Talia and Nadia, play with Goth Barbie and Secret Agent Barbie on the floor, he smiled. It was a long, broken road, but it ended at Ziva. She made it all worth while, and he wouldn't change a thing.


	2. The Way I Am

A/N: Okay, this update is only one song, because it's so freaking long. I wrote this in the span of about...two hours, listening to the song on repeat. My friend Dennis helped me edit this over facebook at one in the morning, so there's that. I don't own NCIS, but I do own the writing and Riley. I'm not exactly happy with the end clip, but it works. :) Enjoy.

His hands clung tightly to the bars of the horizontal ladder, his feet swinging in the air below him. "I can't move!"

"Just jump!" Ziva told him, holding her hands up.

"I'm slipping!" She put herself directly below him, wiggling her fingers. His hand slipped off the bar, and he flailed wildly, trying to replace it. "I'm going down!"

"No, you're not," Ziva replied, "Jump."

The boy's toothy smile appeared, and his hands released the bar. His small frame landed in Ziva's arms, shaking with laughter. "I made it halfway, Mom!"

"Good job, Riley." Tony's voice sounded from behind the two, "Maybe next time you'll get all the way across.""Maybe? Come on, Dad. I'm gonna be a ninja. I'm making it all the way across." He hopped down from Ziva's arms, running toward the end of the monkey bars, "I'm going again!"

***

Rain hit the glass of the window hectically, lightning flashing behind it. She pulled a book from the shelf, reading the title. Nodding, she took the book to her chair and sat. She flipped it open to the first page, and the light above her flickered out.

Ziva cursed quietly, getting up to flip the switch. Nothing. A look into the hall proved exactly what she was afraid of: the light that once dimly lit the hallway was out, and so was the kitchen light.

"Tony!" She called, "The power's out!"

She sat back in her chair, attempting to read in the dark. The first few words…the? No… they? Then? Ziva closed her eyes in defeat as thunder rumbled outside.

Then, a creak. Floorboards. Getting closer…

A light shone before her, a greenish tinted LED light…Opening her eyes, she saw Tony, holding his phone out in front of him, above the book. She smiled softly to him. The word was 'They'.

**

The window, opened, let a cool breeze wander throughout Tony's bedroom, the fresh scent of spring's morning coming in with it. Sunlight lit the once-dark room, shining on his bed.

Ziva rolled over, reaching an arm out to his side. Empty sheets greeted her fingers as she groaned, pulling her pillow over her head to avoid the sunlight. "Tony?" Came her muffled voice, "Get back here."

The sound of the door opening, then Tony's feet on the floor greeted her ears, "Good morning."

Ziva grumbled at him, reaching a lazy hand out. "What kind?"

"Green, with honey," Tony replied, putting the mug of tea in her hand.

She sat up, sipping enthusiastically. "Thank you."

**

"Go! Go! Go!" A red foam finger darted out above the crowd of yellow and red tee-shirts, Tony's voice lost in the crowd. "Ten more yards!"

Tackle. A small crowd of Michigan fans screamed wildly below him.

"No!" Tony grumbled, "Not overtime!"

Ziva laughed quietly beside him as he continued yelling at Ohio Sate's football team, watching the scoreboard add an "OT" to the end of the timer.

A tug on her sweater, and her eyes darted down to Riley, hiding his fingers in his sweatshirt. "Mom, I'm cold. Can we go?" His cheeks were pink from the cool wind, his hat pushed haphazardly above his ears.

She fixed the hat, centering the Spongebob logo, and turned to Tony. "Riley's getting cold." Tony nodded, not looking at her. "Can we go now?"

His eyes focused on her, "We're in overtime, Ziva! It's the game of the season! We can't leave now."

"You're staying home with him when he catches a cold then."

Tony sighed, pulling off his OSU sweatshirt and handed it to Riley. "Thanks, Daddy."

**

Tony flipped off his computer leaving the bullpen dark except for Ziva's desk lamp. He retired his head to his hands, groaning.

"Something wrong?" Ziva asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"Massive headache," came his response as he dug his head deeper into his hands.

"Need something for it?" She asked, reaching into her desk drawer.

"Got something?"

She pulled out a box and tossed it to him. "That."

He caught it groggily, reading the label. "Midol? No way." Tony threw it back at her, resuming his position.

"It relieves headaches, Tony." Ziva reasoned, "Don't be a.. wuss." She tossed it back.

Tony cringed, "I can't believe I'm doing this…"

**

Ziva leaned, exhausted, against the door frame of Riley's room. She pulled some stray hair behind her ear, watching the scene that played out in front of her.

Tony leaned over the crib, poking Riley's belly. A small grin, one Ziva didn't see, played on the lips of the baby. Tony picked him up and held him out in front of him. "Now," he began in a warning tone, "don't puke on me. Or else."

Ziva stifled a laugh, placing a hand over her mouth.

Pulling Riley close to him, Tony held out a finger for him to grab onto. "You are cute, aren't you?"

Riley giggled.

"Isn't he, Baby?" Tony said over his shoulder.

Ziva jumped, surprised, then, speaking loud enough for him to hear, "Beautiful."

**

"Hurry up, Dad." Riley's voice boomed through the living room, "I'm gonna be late.""Let me get my hat," Tony replied, searching the closet for his Westwater High hat.

"Come on, Badly," Riley said, "We don't have time for a hat. It's my first varsity football game!"

"You do not use it for 'team spirit' like you say, anyway." Ziva said.

Tony pulled out the fading hat and put it on. "What're you waiting for? Riley's gonna be late for his first big game."

Ziva chuckled, throwing him a grocery bag. Leaving the door ajar, she and Riley made their way to the car.

From the car, Ziva and Riley watched as he pulled out a box from the bag.

"Rogaine? Come on, guys!"

**

It was Friday night, and Ziva was curled up with a book on the couch. Silence enveloped her as the sun set slowly outside her window, the occasional flipping of the pages the only thing to break the calm.

That was, until Tony burst through the door, holding a black NCIS jacket at arm's length.

She physically jumped at the noise of the door swinging open, the knife at her side quickly reacquainted with her right hand.

"I'm dead." Tony said as he slammed her door behind him.

"If you do that one more time, yes, you are." She stood up, "Great, I lost my spot in my book."

"Gibbs is gonna kill me, Ziva."

"What did you do now, Tony?" Ziva sighed.

"McClumsy slipped on ice at the crime scene and pulled the sleeve of my issue jacket off. I'm gonna kill him!" Tony said, holding out the sleeve, half removed from the body, to Ziva.

"Sew it,"

"I can't sew!"

Ziva walked to her linen closet, pulling out a bag from the top shelf. Pulling out a needle and thread, she glared at him. "You are lucky I can sew, Tony." She sat and patched the jacket up until it was as like-new as she could make it, and handed it to him. "I hope you took notes. Next time, you are on your own."

**

"I'm not gonna leave you out in the cold, Ziva." Tony said, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear.

"But that is who you are," she replied, pulling his hand away from her face. "You've left every other girl of yours." She dipped her head and whispered, "I like you, Tony, but it is not worth it. I was taught to not let my emotions get in the way of anything. Especially work. I can't risk it."

"There's no risk," Tony said, grabbing the hand that removed his from her face, intertwining their fingers. He held his hand up, level to their faces, and continued, "There's no risk, Ziva, because I know I love you, and you don't have to race me up a rock wall to try and get me to admit it." Confusion in her face, then, shaking it off, "I would never leave you, Ziva."

"Promise me?"

"No. I can't promise you." He squeezed her hand, still raised in the air. "I can't promise you, because I love you more than a promise is worth."

The corners of her lips upturned, tears filled her eyes. He counted as she squeezed back.

One. Two. Three.

**

Another DiNozzo paper plane flew across the bullpen, onto Ziva's desk. Crushing the meticulously folded plane, she balled it up and threw it back at him. "Stop it."

Over the next half hour, the cycle continued: a paper plane to Ziva, then a paper ball to Tony, as she filled out paperwork and he made more turned on her monitor and reached for her mouse as Tony looked up, saying, "I wouldn't touch that."

"And why not?" He didn't reply, except for a smile, and Ziva's face dropped in surprise. "You did not."

"Hey," Tony replied in defense, "at least I warned you."

"I cannot believe you." Ziva said, unplugging the mouse and throwing it in her garbage can. "I cannot believe I like a child."

"And I can't believe I love a Mossad assassin."

"I am glad that you take me the way I am."

"Same here."

1 THE WAY I AM- INGRID MICHAELSON 


End file.
